Love Cubed
by Fireflyfantasy
Summary: Loosely based on Final Fantasy world. Zack is a Lieutenant, he has girlfriend, cute blond cadet enters picture. Rating may change in later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

OK so I know there is supposed to be some stuff here something about me not owning Final Fantasy or its characters. They belong to Square Enix and yadda yadda.

This is my first story and I am a terrible typist/speller hopefully word caught most of it, so apologies in advance. Let me know what you think. Enjoy.

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As Inara made her tenth and final track lap of the morning she could not help snickering at the fiasco she cause as she past a group of first year cadets, causing the teens to trip over each other as they paid more attention to her ass than their feet. Being one of only two female first class soldiers Inara often found that with her SOLDIER toned body she could reduce most of the boys at the Shinra military complex to whimpers with a look, especially first years. The smug look on her face slowly disappeared as she thought back to her first year and the reason she joined SOLDIER in the first place.

There were only four other girls in her first year group. Most girls wanted nothing to do with Shinra, but Inara figured it was better than continuing to be molested by her stepfather. Inara's biological father had been a Turk and had been killed protecting the President when she was only four, her Mother almost immediately remarried. When she was ten her Mother died of a drug overdose and her stepfather decided Inara should take her Mother's place, this included not only the cooking and the cleaning, but the bedroom duties as well. Bile was beginning to rise in her throat and she was starting to panic.

She was trapped in this nightmare memory when she felt strong arms wrap around her small waist. Inara instantly went on the defensive, bringing an elbow up to catch her attacker in the eye causing him to release her at which point she dropped and with a sweep of her foot brought her attacker to the ground. She had sprung back to her feet before she realized who her "attacker" was.

The gorgeous spiky haired SOLDIER was immediately on his feet with a look of maniacal rage on his face, "What the fuck is wrong with…." He trailed off and his face instantly softened as he saw his girlfriend's tears, "Aww I'm sorry babe." Inara just buried her face in Zack's chest as he pulled her into a hug.

Inara felt terrible but knew there was no need for explanation. Lieutenant Zack Fair was not only Inara's boyfriend, but was also the one person in the world who truly knew who Inara Sullivan was. In fact he was the only person who knew anything about her past.

As much as it killed him to see his girlfriend cry, it also made him feel special. To show signs of weakness in SOLDIER was unforgivable. They had been on quite a few missions together, he had seen her shot, stabbed, and watched her cradle a dying comrade in her arms, but the only time she let her tears fall was alone in his arms in the officers' apartment they shared. Even then it was rare. Zack knew she had to have been caught up in a particularly disturbing memory to have allowed the watery eyed clinging in the open like this.

Sure enough as she pulled her head up from his chest any trace of weakness had disappeared and been replaced by a devilish grin; "Damn Zachary, you must be slippin. I really got the drop on you."

Zack's snarl held little real menaced as he responded; "Bite me."

"I might later if you are a good boy." At this Zack gave his girl an appreciative once over. At 5'2" Inara was a full foot shorter than him and was quite possibly the smallest person at the facility. Her body was toned and muscular, but was still soft were it needed to be. Most female SOLDIERS were butch; in fact the only other first class female SOLDIER was something of an amazon and for the most part was barely recognizable as a woman. Zack grinned knowing that despite his girl's cute and cuddly exterior, she was mean as hell and could hold her own one on one with anyone who had the balls to step up.

"Helllooo Zachary, anybody in there." Zack snapped out of his thoughts to see said spunky bad ass cutie waving her hand in front of his face. He grinned sheepishly and said "uh sorry babe I didn't hear a word you said."

"Obviously. I asked which lunch shift you had and whether or not you were on duty." Zack grinned mischievously and replied, "Ah I have the 11:00 lunch and my duty days are Tuesday and Thursday, same as yours."

"For someone who is newly promoted you sure like throwing your weight around." Inara felt some small annoyance at her boyfriend's manipulation of her life, bringing to surface a recent argument over said manipulation.

"_Dammit Zachary, What are you playing at."_

"_What are you so pissed about."_

"_I was getting ready to go out with my unit when General Sephiroth summoned me to his office to tell me I had been reassigned, at your insistence."_

"_Why is that such a bad thing? They had an opening and you were qualified. In fact being the field units Materia specialist you were more than qualified."_

"_But teaching Zack, seriously if I wanted to be ogled by a bunch of perverted little first years I would volunteer for gate duty when they brought the little bastards in."_

_Zack immediately snapped back with an equally heated shout, "if I don't go out in the field then neither do you."_

_Inara shrieked becoming more and more furious, "So what the hell. Do you honestly think that I am going to go tent hopping every night? It's good to know that you trust me so much you JACKASS." With a scream she hurled her teacher's text book at his head making a hole in the wall after it whizzed by._

_Zack strode across the room and grabbed Inara by the shoulders, "I trust YOU completely. We have always been in the field together and I have always watched your back. I cannot trust anyone else with your life." With his next words Zack's voice broke, "please Inara, I can't lose you."_

The last of her irritation faded away as she remembered the single tear that slid down his cheek that day. "So" Inara grinned mischievously "You want me to come by on lunch and help you clear some of the paperwork off of your desk."

"Oh hell yeah." With this he planted a quick kiss on Inara's lips and a light swat on her ass as she ran off toward the showers. He watched her perfect hips way as she jogged off and decided that luch just could not come soon enough.

Inara muttled through her first three classes of the morning going over first day basics; Syllabus, expectations, and the portion of the soldier exams that would be taken directly from this class. Each of her classes consisted of twenty to twenty-five kids and she had only had two girls so far. Thinking back at their defiant, smug faces Inara wondered what extremes had pushed them into SOLDIER. Not that it mattered; they would break and most likely be gone before exams. Few girls made it all the way thru. The better you were the harder it was. Boys did not like to be shown up by girls. Inara herself never would have made it thru if it hadn't been for Zack. Inara was top of their class in academics and Zack was top in combat and weapons, so it only made sense when he offered to help her in combat in exchange for her help in academics. Inara quickly developed a crush on the too cute cadet, but had no idea he returned her feelings until the night she was attacked returning to the dorms from the library.

_Inara's steps quickened as she heard a rustling sound, irritated with herself for staying at the library till closing. Feeling more than a little childish she was desperately fighting to overcome the irrational feeling of fear building inside her. She glanced back over her shoulder and rounded a corner, when she turned back around her path was blocked by four boys. She recognized one as a second class SOLDIER and panicked as she saw the sneer on his face._

_Zack's combat training had been excellent and she could probably take on any one cadet and beat him, but three cadets and one SOLDIER, no one cadet could do that. The biggest of the cadets knocked her books from her hands with a laugh and another shoved her backward. She stumbled to the ground and found herself being yanked up by her hair and punched sending her to the ground again. The SOLDIER of the group was a tall skinny red head who pulled her up and shoved her against a tree. He ripped her shirt and bit her neck hard enough to draw blood, with a sneer he whispered "The names Reno bitch, remember it cause you'll be screaming it in a couple of minutes."_

_Reno pressed his forearm against her throat and began fumbling with his belts and pants. Inara couldn't breathe and was beginning to lose consciousness. As she felt herself slipping off she heard Reno growl out, "Get her pants off of her, yo."_

_She woke up with a hand on her shoulder gently shaking her. Panic kicked in and Inara, keeping her eyes closed tight, attempted to push herself into the tree she was curled up against. Mortified at the whimper that left her lips Zack tried again "Inara baby it's me, Zack, you're safe." Inara slowly peeled open her eyes, looking around she saw two of her attackers unconscious on the ground it appeared that the other two had left. _

_She felt relief when she felt her sweat pants still snugly tied around her waist. She looked up at Zack who was desperately trying to look anywhere but Inara. He had removed his t-shirt and was holding it out to her. That's when she remembered that dick Reno had shredded her shirt and she quickly grabbed Zack's and pulled it over her head._

_Zack looked down at her and chuckled, "That shirt swallows you." Inara was working up a scowl when he reached down and scooped her up to carry her to the infirmary. She was pretty sure she could walk, but hey, why walk when you can ride._

_After word spread that Zack was a super bad-ass people left him alone and after he made it clear that Inara was "his girl" people avoided her too. Normally being spoken of as a possession would have pissed her off, but for some reason the thought of Zack possessing her made her stomach flutter._

Speaking of Zack possessing her, 'dammit now I'm gonna be late' Inara thought as she ran to her post lunch class. Helping Zack clear the paperwork off his desk was not supposed to take that long. Well actually the paperwork came off the desk in one fel-swoop it was the time that Inara spent on the desk that took too long. Oh well Zack was nothing if not thorough.

She rounded the last corner tucking in her shirt as she came to the door. Since she was looking down she ran smack into a cadet who was also apparently running late. Inara landed hard on her ass and shot a look at the moron that ran into her. The poor kid look terrified, "I am so sorry Ma'am." He offered her a hand and helped her up quickly ducking into class to take a seat. Inara watched in interest as she noticed him sit in a back corner away from the other cadets.

She heard one of the other kid's mutter, "Way to go Strife, could you be more of a fuck-up." Another smart ass tossed in "Dude that's Lieutenant Fair's girlfriend, he is gonna pound you."

Inara's eyebrows rose at that comment, but she let it go since she needed to get class going. Taking role she noted that the smart asses name was Alec, fitting since he was something of a smart-alec. The kid who made the fuck-up comment was named Tong and the cutie that had steam rolled her in the hall was named Cloud.

She instantly decided that there was something about the kid she liked, besides his extreme cuteness. His unruly blond spikes reminded her of chocobo feathers and his eyes were the prettiest blue she had ever seen. He was small for his age which she knew from the roll sheet in front of her to be fifteen.

He looked like someone that the other cadets would eat for breakfast, and as Inara watched him, staring out the window with his sad eyes she decided she was not going to let that happen. Zack of course would relentlessly tease her for it. He called it her lost puppy syndrome.

That evening Inara had homemade pizza ready when Zack got home. He walked in, kicked off his boots and inhaled, 'homemade pizza, oh shit what does she want.' Inara grabbed the front of his shirt and kissed him. She shoved a beer in his hand and straddled him as he fell back onto the couch. She looked deep into his gorgeous mako enhanced violet eyes and grinned. Said mako eyes rolled as Zack groaned "Already, It's the first day for crying out loud." Inara put on her best shocked and innocent expression, "What."

"Just spill it, who is this semesters puppy." He then continued without allowing her to answer "let me guess…Spike." This time Inara did not have to feign confusion. Zack grinned when he elaborated, "Aka one cadet Cloud Strife."

Inara pumped a victory fist in the air. He had caught Zack's eye too. She knew he would, because he was too cute not to. Inara knew Zack swung both ways, mind you he had not swung that way in awhile since he had his hands full with Inara, but he still looked. At the sadistically wicked grin on his girlfriends face Zack just shook his head, "I knew that boy was gonna be trouble the second he stumbled into class."


	2. New friends

Again with the lack of ownership of the Final Fantasy World.

OK this chapter is kind of long. Sorry I will try to keep the next one a little shorter. Not quite as daunting that way.

And so goes Chapter 2

Once again Cloud surveyed the cafeteria for something secluded. It was not that he had not tried to make friends because he had. It's just that everyone hated him. Cloud has always been a little shy, but after his father shamed the family when Cloud was eight the few friends that he had turned their backs on him.

The Strife family name seemed to carry with it a stigma. Cloud had grown used to the glares and name calling. His father had made a monumental mistake on the job and a lot of people lost their lives because of it. No one seemed to care that Cloud was nothing like his father, he hated him, always had.

"Hey Spike mind if we join ya." Cloud jumped a little at the sound of Lieutenant Fair's voice. 'Oh yeah I'll make a great soldier' When he realized his two teachers were waiting expectantly with trays in hand he muttered "Um yeah sure I guess."

He was a little surprised when his Materia 101 teacher circled the table to sit next to him and her boyfriend sat across from them.

"So Spike, It's been a little over a week, what do you think of our little program here." Zack asked grinning.

"Um well, Lieutenant Fair sir…."

"It's Zack," Inara interrupted, "and I am Inara. Outside of class our friends refer to us by first names. You still have to use titles in class, butt not here. And please, no sir or ma'am."

Cloud blushed a little when he realized she had implied that they were his friends. "OK Zack then. It's OK I guess."

"What's your favorite class?"

"Definatly combat and weapons class."

Zack noted the cadet actually smiled and sounded enthusiastic. He also saw Inara had stuck her tongue out at him.

Cloud also caught the action and quickly added, "But Materia is my favorite academic class."

Zack laughed "Of course it is. The teacher is hot." He winked at Inara who replied, "Yeah well I hear the combat and weapons teacher is pretty hot too. I wanted to retake it, but they wouldn't let me. They were afraid I might hurt the newbies."

Zack continued his teasing with "Well yeah most people find blue balls painful, I think one full hour long class with a hard-on is enough."

Inara threw a french fry at him "Shut up pervert."

Cloud's face was bright red and he was obviously uncomfortable, so Inara quickly changed the subject "So Cloud, What do you do in your spare time?"

"Um mostly I just study and work out."

"Wow Spike that is really pathetic." Zack yelped a little when Inara kicked him under the table.

"Ignore him he is only teasing. His first week here was spent crying about missing his Mommy." This comment made Cloud smirk at the thought of Zack being a Momma's boy. Inara continued with "So I guess your weekends are free then?"

Before he could answer Zack said "Inara and I were planning on going into town Friday night. There is a bar on the bottom plate we like to hang out at. Wanna come with?"

"That would be great, but I am not old enough to get in."

Inara smiled and said "It's not like a night club with bouncers and such. It is small and quiet and we know everyone there."

"Well OK then if you are sure you don't mind."

"Not at all Spike, just be in the commons area at around seven Friday night." Zack stood to leave since lunch was pretty much over. He leaned across the table and planted a big wet kiss on Inara. Cloud blushed a little and then noticed tenderness in the SOLDIER's voice that he figured few people witnessed as he whispered "I love you babe."

Inara smiled and said "I love you too." Then she turned to Cloud "Come on you can walk me to class if you don't mind swinging by my apartment to grab today's lesson plans."

Once at the apartment Inara unlocked the door and entered. Cloud stood in the doorway unsure of what to do. "Well come in. We have a few minutes may as well give you the grand tour."

"OK" Cloud said glancing around the small well kept apartment. The living room contained a sofa, a bookcase, and a huge flat panel TV with various gaming systems hooked up to it. He also noticed various pictures of Zack and Inara and noted how happy they looked together.

Inara continued the tour down the hallway; they passed a room with a twin bed, a small dresser and a computer desk which held a regular PC and a laptop. Inara told Cloud "This would be occupied since there are two officers per apartment, but Zack and I share a room so we have a spare."

Cloud was surprised by this bit of information "They let you guys share an apartment."

"Yeah, we are two of the General's favorite officers and since Zack is a lieutenant he is entitled to a one bedroom that he does not have to share. They always run short on one bedroom apartments because no one wants a roommate if they don't have to have one. So Sephiroth gladly 'pulled some strings' for us."

She finished the tour with the small bathroom and another bedroom which was a little messier than the first and obviously lived in. "Well that's it. Let's head to class."

The rest of the week seemed to take forever and when Friday finally got there Cloud was very excited about going out with his new friends. At about 7:20 however his confidence began to sink. 'I can't believe I could be so stupid. Like people as cool as Zack and Inara would ever hang out with me.'

Cloud had decided this was probably some horrible SOLDIER prank. His eyes began to water as he tried to get his feet to move. He just knew everyone was about to start laughing and pelt him with paintballs or strip him naked and tie him to a tree or something.

He was turning to leave when he heard the laughter. Cloud froze and waited for the inevitable. Then he heard the shout "Hey Spike you were not about to leave us were you."

Cloud turned and saw Zack and Inara crossing the courtyard hand in hand. He inhaled sharply when he saw Inara. He had only ever seen her in her SOLDIER attire and seeing her standing in the moonlight in jeans and a light sweater he decided she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her hair which was usually in a ponytail was loose and the dark curls fell a little passed her shoulders. He also thought she had the prettiest brown eyes he had ever seen, they were big and innocent and surrounded by long dark eyelashes. Zack spoke up pulling him out of his trance "Sorry we are so late kiddo. Inara was attacked by the angry beaver."

Cloud glanced at Inara and was thoroughly confused. Inara looked horrified and smacked Zack in the back of the head as he busted out laughing. "I am so glad my pain amuses you."

Cloud was becoming distraught at the thought of Inara being hurt. He looked at her again and could see no visible injuries, "They have beavers on base? I didn't realize they would attack people."

This comment caused Zack to double over with laughter and Inara turned a darker shade of red as she explained "I took a nap because I had really bad cramps and I had a hard time getting back up."

Cloud's face turned a bright crimson at the realization of what Zack meant by 'angry beaver' he mumbled "Oh my god, OK sorry I asked. So are we not going then, because I mean if Inara doesn't feel good we shouldn't go?"

"Awww thank you Cloud that is so sweet. Did you hear that sweetie Cloud is concerned for my well being?" Inara kicked her boyfriend in the ass since he was still lying on the ground laughing like a maniacal jackass.

Zack stifled his laughter and said "Dammit Spike you are making me look bad." Turning to Inara he continued "I already told you we don't have to go babe."

"No I am fine, besides my poor truck never gets taken anywhere, and hopefully I don't have a flat."

"Yeah too bad we can't take my bike since we have the third wheel along." When he said this Zack threw his arm around Cloud and squeezed his shoulder to let him know he was just teasing.

The truck which was a little red Ford Ranger didn't have a flat. Inara got in the middle with the two boys on either side and they were on their way. As they rode to town Cloud caught himself starring at Inara's hair. It was so shinny and curly. He was pretty sure if he pulled a curl it would spring back up and desperately resisted the urge to try it. The cab of the truck was small for three adults so they were sitting very close. Lots of touching and they hit one bump and Inara's head came even closer to Cloud, he inhaled sharply. 'She smells tropical like coconut or something.'

Zack looked over and snorted when he saw Cloud nearly burry his nose in his girlfriend's hair. Cloud looked up and saw Zack raise an eyebrow at him 'oh shit' Cloud thought, but then the raven hair teen just broke out into one of his signature grins.

As they continued into the bottom plate Cloud began to get worried. He had heard stories about how dangerous it was, but this was just scary. Run down buildings lined the streets and each alley they passed appeared to have shady dealings taking place in the shadows. Drunks and hookers littered the streets and a couple of bums that appeared to be sleeping may well have just been dead bodies.

They pulled up in front of a dive called the Sleeping Dragon. Cloud was looking around when Inara leaned over and popped the glove box. Cloud's eyes widened as she withdrew a handgun and a clip, loaded the clip and handed the gun to Zack who tucked it in the back of his pants under his shirt.

Noticing Cloud's panicked expression Zack chuckled "Don't worry Spike it's just a precaution."

When they entered the bar Cloud was surprised at the relatively clean interior of the place. His stomach growled as he caught whiff of the aromas coming from the kitchen area. They sat in a corner booth with Inara once again in the middle. An older looking blond woman came over and set two beers down in front of Zack and Inara.

Inara smiled at the woman "Hey Kathy. How have you been?"

"Oh you know same ol' same ol'. Got us some loud mouthed bikers on the tables hustling a bunch of the kids out of their money."

Zack glanced toward the trouble makers "Do you want 'em to leave."

Kathy just shrugged and replied "Nah they are not bothering me, I just thought I would give you a heads up." Turning to Cloud she continued "How 'bout you cutie, what are you drinkin'"

"Just give him whatever's on tap. And we will take three death burger specials and an order of dragon wings." Zack said.

"Alright sugar. I'll put the order in and bring the blue eyed cutie his drink."

About five minutes later she returned with a beer for Cloud another for Zack and a basket of Dragon wings. Zack dove into the wings enthusiastically and Cloud sipped his beer and tried a wing. "Holy shit" he yelped quickly realizing why they were called dragon wings. Tears started to spill as he chugged his beer. Luckily Kathy had anticipated this and was on her way with an ice water which Cloud quickly chased his beer with.

After that he decided to follow Inara's lead and stay away from the wings, fine with Zack, more for him. The rest of the food was great. Cloud was pretty sure this was the biggest burger he had ever seen and the mountain of fries that came with it was equally intimidating. The most amazing part of the meal was when Cloud noticed Inara's empty basket "Where the hell did you put it all?" he blurted, already feeling a nice buzz from his two beers.

Inara laughed "I have bitchin' metabolism, and I LOVE food." Zack had just finished his fifth beer and seemed unaffected. Inara had switched to water figuring she would drive home. "Well boys that was tasty now I feel like a friendly game of pool." Pushing Zack from the booth she sauntered over to the rowdy trouble making bikers "I call next game."

The biggest one who looked to be about 6'3" and 280lbs sneered at Inara "Whatever you say pretty lady, I'll be happy to play with you." He punctuated his meaning by rubbing his crotch and licking his lips.

Inara rolled her eyes and said "Would you like me to rack your balls for you?" She smiled sweetly while thinking to herself 'I am so gonna wipe the floor with you.'

Zack and Cloud sat at the table drinking and talking. Zack was impressed with how much Cloud was opening up after a little more liquor. He ordered a couple of more beers and glanced back to make sure Inara was not in any trouble.

Kathy kept them updated as she brought their drinks. Inara had already beaten them five games in a row and the big guy was about 400 gill in the hole. Zack laughed "Morons. Never play pool with a genius; they start breaking out math and physics shit to clear the table."

He turned to see Cloud had already taken the shot Kathy brought him and was now happily guzzling his beer. Zack started to tell him to slow down when he heard breaking glass and a drunken slur "You shtupid bitch."

In the time it took Zack to cross the room Inara had wretched the broken bottle from the big bastard and had him shoved face down on the table with his arms twisted awkwardly behind his back. His buddies were debating helping him when they noticed Zack and the gun he held discreetly by his side. They looked at him and he shook his head letting them know they did not want to go there he would shoot them.

Inara got her money and the humiliated bikers left the bar. As they headed back to the table Inara saw Cloud desperately trying to remain upright with a death grip on the table. She got within a foot of him and he let go and fell into her causing her to fall back into Zack who of course remained planted like a frackin' rock.

Zack did however flinch when he felt Cloud's arms encircle Inara's waist since her waist was against him which meant the blonde's hands brushed his crotch. Cloud didn't seem to notice, but Zack sure as hell did.

Thankfully Inara managed to get her footing and hold up herself and most of Cloud's weight too. Cloud slurred "That wass bad ash. I wash gonna come help, but there ish shomthing wrong wiff my feet."

Zack laughed "OK maybe the shots were not such a good idea."

Inara rolled her eyes "Help me get him out to the truck." They half dragged, half carried Cloud out.

On the way home Cloud was having a lot of trouble remaining up right. He slumped over on Inara, but she gently nudged him "Sweetie I can't drive with you like that."

Cloud was not to offended he just shrugged and turned toward Zack. Zack nearly yelped when Cloud wrapped his arms around his waist and laid his head on his arm and slung his legs across one of Zack's. Inara glanced over in time to see Zack lift his arm and slip it around the blonde's shoulders. She smiled then giggled when she heard Cloud mumble "you shmell like beer. Beer ish good."

As Inara parked the car she saw that Zack had slumped over and fallen asleep against the door with Cloud still in his arms. She almost thought they looked too cute to wake up. Then a more alarming thought 'Shit I hope I can wake them up. I think I can carry Cloud, but not Zack."

She was relieved when she poked Zack in the side and he woke up. He climed out of the truck and pulled Cloud to the edge of the seat where he could easily toss him over his shoulder.

They went into the apartment and he put the sleeping cadet in the spare bedroom. He removed his shoes, tucked him in, and placed a trash can by the bed. 'If he pukes in the floor Inara will make me clean it up for giving him shots.'

He paused in the doorway to stare at the sleeping cadet. He felt Inara's arms wrap around his waist as she whispered "Whatcha thinkin'"

Zack hesitated only a second before replying "I was thinkin' that we might have to keep this one."

Inara smiled and felt all warm and fuzzy inside. She had hoped he would feel this way because it would not work out otherwise and as much as Inara adored Cloud she could not live without Zack.


	3. Fist fights and revelations

Here is chapter 3

I do not own Final Fantasy or its characters. Last I checked they were the property of Square Enix.

It had been a month since that first night he went out with Zack and Inara. He grimaced when he thought about the mess he had made in their spare bedroom when he had woke up that Saturday morning. He had been unsure of where he was and once he realized where he was he couldn't remember how to get to the bathroom.

Cloud had puked on the bed and the floor before Zack had come in and carried him to the bathroom. Zack had held him up to keep his head from falling in the toilet.

He vaguely remembered Inara babying him with aspirin and food and then tucking him into their bed after getting him some of Zack's old clothes, which swallowed him. He also remembered feeling bad as he drifted off to sleep hearing Zack swearing from the spare bedroom something along the lines of "What the fuck did he eat?"

He woke up the next day on the couch and hadn't really left since then. He mostly just went back to his dorm to get clean clothes.

This is what he was doing when he laughter behind. "What are you doing loser?" Cloud rolled his eyes as he heard Alec. He left his keys hanging in the door and turned around. Standing there with Alec was the rest of his little gang, Nick and Tong. 'This is gonna suck' he thought as they closed in.

Inara was taking food out of the oven when she heard the front door. Glancing up she expected to see Cloud who should have been back over an hour ago. Instead she saw Zack kicking off his shoes "Hey beautiful. I am gonna take a shower before dinner." Glancing around he noticed the absence of a certain cute blond cadet who was usually lounging around by now showered and sometime shirtless. "Where's Spike?"

"Dunno, not here yet. I am starting to worry about him, he went by his dorm to get some clean clothes, but that was over an hour and a half ago."

"I'm sure it's nothing. He probably just got to talking to his roommate Tony. He is the only friend Cloud has here besides us. Did you try calling his dorm?"

"No, but I will while you are in the shower." Inara heard the shower kick on as she dialed the phone number for Cloud's dorm room.

She recognized the voice of the boy that answered, "Hi Tony. This is Inara, is Cloud around?"

Tony hesitated a little "Um hang on just a sec." She heard muffled voices and then after a pause Cloud answered, "Hello."

"Hey sweetie, you sound terrible. What's wrong?"

"Um nothing I think I am coming down with the flu or something."

"Wow that was fast. I just saw you a couple of hours ago. I was starting to get worried about you."

"…"

"Well why don't you come over, I can make you some chicken soup and I can make Zack go to the infirmary and get you some cold medicine."

"Um no I don't want to make you and Zack sick."

"We don't get sick. Remember the mako injections keep us from getting common illnesses. So no worries there."

"I am just going to hang out here. I don't wanna be any trouble."

"It's not any trouble Cloud. I'll tell you what if you don't want to get out; I will just make some soup and bring it to you then. I will feel better knowing you are OK."

Cloud's desperation to keep his friend from seeing him finally made him snap "Dammit Inara you are not my Mother. Can't I even go one day without having you up my ass?" As he finished shouting he hung up on her.

Zack had stepped out into the hall and vaguely heard what Cloud had said "What the hell? Did he just yell at you?"

Inara looked hurt "Um he said he doesn't feel good he just wanted to relax."

"I don't care how he feels; he can't talk to you like that." He got dressed and went toward the cadet dorms to give Cloud a piece of his mind.

Tony opened the door when Zack knocked. Zack barged in and saw Cloud covered up on his bunk facing the wall. "What the hell is wrong with you Spike? I can't believe you yelled at Inara like that. She was trying to be nice you ungrateful little bastard."

"I will apologize to her tomorrow. Zack, please just leave." This last part was barely a whisper and Cloud still would not roll over and face the raven haired teen.

Zack stalked over and grabbed Cloud's shoulder to make him face him. When he did Cloud cried out and Zack got a look at his face "Oh Gods Spike, who did this to you?"

Tony spoke up for the first time since Zack came in "He wouldn't say, and he refused to go to the infirmary. I think he has got some broken ribs and his ankle is busted up pretty good too."

Zack grabbed the phone and called Inara "Hey babe. I need you to grab my ident badge and meet me at the infirmary."

He then turned back around and looked at Cloud who was struggling to sit up on the side of the bed. Zack looked at his face and felt sick, his lip was split open, one eye was swollen shut, and the side of his face looked like someone had taken a cheese grater to it.

He knelt down beside the bed and asked Cloud which side had the broken ribs. Cloud indicated his right side, so Zack picked him up as best he could without hurting him more.

Zack turned and carried Cloud from the dorm and headed to the infirmary. About half way there Cloud asked him to stop and set him down for a second because he was having trouble breathing. Zack did as he asked "Cloud I need you to tell me who did this to you."

"It doesn't matter. It's over and done with." Cloud was just so tired and he finally broke down, he wouldn't cry in front of Tony, but felt like he could in front of Zack. "Why does everyone hate me so much?"

It broke Zack's heart to hear Cloud say those words and as he pulled him into a light hug he whispered "I don't know Spike. They are probably just jealous."

Cloud snorted "Yeah right."

"You are so perfect in so many ways that other people want to destroy what they can. Don't let 'em Spike. Don't allow them to break your spirit."

Cloud was touched by Zack's words and found himself wanting to be back in Zack's arms, which was just weird right. Figuring he should at least try to walk he took a step forward and felt pain shoot through his leg. He would have dropped to the ground like a rock, but Zack was there to scoop him back up and carry him the rest of the way to the infirmary.

Inara had beat them to the infirmary and when she heard the automatic door slide open and saw Zack come in carrying Cloud her jaw dropped and she immediately closed it again. She wanted to say something, but nothing would come out. She managed a squeak and that is when Zack noticed her. 'Shit I had really wanted to beat her here so she wouldn't actually see him like this.' Zack thought.

An infirmary medic pushed over a wheelchair and Zack sat Cloud down and said "I will be back in a minute." He watched the medic push Cloud down the hall and turned to talk to Inara 'where the hell did she go'. As he finished this thought he heard a retching sound coming from behind the desk. He peaked over to see Inara puking in the trash can.

Walking around behind the desk he put a hand on her back. She held a hand up to wave him off "Go with Cloud he needs you, I will be fine." She paused then said "Fuck. Zack who did that to him?"

"I don't know, but I will find out and I will take care of it."

Inara waved her hand in acknowledgement because she had her head back in the trash can. Zack stood and headed for the exam room.

Cloud had removed his shirt and Zack cringed at the black and purple bruises that marred Cloud's usually pale torso. The medic had left the room to get the proper material dosages to heal the worst of Cloud's wounds.

The door opened and Cloud looked up expecting the medic. He sucked in his breath when he saw who walked in behind the medic. Zack knew who it was from the reaction Cloud gave, after all Zack was the one who had called him.

"Zachary. I brought the necessary paperwork. The desk attendant is filling it out as far as the injuries go. Do we have names yet?" Zack shook his head no.

Cloud was shaking and staring at the floor. General Sephiroth spoke in his usual authoritative voice "Cadet Strife, we need the names of the boys who did this to you."

Cloud stammered out "Sir I would really rather not pursue the issue."

Sephiroth almost laughed, the boy had balls, no one denies him anything, instead he frowned and barked out, "That was not a request you silly boy it was an order."

"Oh um yes sir." Cloud hesitated only a second before continuing "It was Alec Abrams, Tong Tran, and Nick Granger. Sir."

"Very Well I will have the desk clerk put it in. Continue with the treatment." Turning his back on Cloud the General paused "Zachary I need to see you in the hall and you might want to check on Sullivan, she looked a little pale."

"Yes sir." Zack patted Cloud on the knee and said "When they get you fixed up come on out Inara and I will be in the waiting room."

Once they were outside the room Sephiroth spoke up again "Are we doing this in an official paperwork suspension manner or would you like me to pretend I was never here?"

"I only needed the names Seph. I can take care of it."

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow and regarded the anger radiating from his second in command "Can I trust you won't actually kill any of them?"

It bothered him a little that Zack seemed to think about it before responding "I won't do anything to them that they wouldn't do to him."

"Zachary, you are aware that if anyone sees you, there will be consequences."

"No one is going to see me." They had reached the waiting were Inara was sitting with her legs pulled up to her chest and her head resting on her knees. Zack was glad to see she had yet to break down into tears and figured she was struggling to hold it in until they got home.

He bid Sephiroth goodnight and thanked him for his help, then he sat next to Inara and waited for Cloud.

The next morning the entire complex was all a buzz with the night's excitement. Everyone was talking about the three cadets who had been dragged from there rooms in the middle of the night beaten, stripped naked, and tied to a tree. No one including the cadets had seen the attackers. The three boys had been blind folded, but said there had to have been at least five attackers.

Inara had to fight to keep herself from laughing out loud at that one. She knew when Zack had left the bed in the middle of the night, where he was going. She figured Cloud knew too.

The first thing he had done when they had gotten home from the infirmary was apologize to Inara for yelling at her on the phone. She had already forgotten about it, and was just happy he wasn't broken any more. Never the less she was amazed that he had just been beaten so badly yet was concerned about her feelings.

That afternoon Cloud was at the apartment working on homework while Inara watch TV and worked on lesson plans. She leaned over and peaked at Cloud's paper "Number six is wrong."

"Hey aren't you supposed to be doing something?" Cloud asked trying to feign annoyance.

"I am an excellent multitasker. Thank you very much."

"Great. How 'bout if you multitask your ass into the kitchen and get me a soda?"

"You little shit." Inara said laughing. She then picked up a couch pillow and hit him with it.

Cloud threw up his arms in mach surrender "Alright, alright. I was just kidding."

After getting his own soda and one for Inara he went back to his homework. He checked to make sure she wasn't looking and fixed number six. After a couple of minutes he asked "Are there a lot of gay people here? At Shinra I mean."

Inara was a little caught off guard "Um yeah I guess. I mean there are not a lot of girls around and Mako sometimes make SOLDIERS horny, so you can go crazy or go gay. Why do you ask?"

"I was just curious." After a pause he added "Well um actually Layne Parker asked me out."

"Oh really." Inara tried not to let her panic show, "Are you going to go?"

"No."

"Can I ask why?"

"Well I'm not gay." Then almost as an after thought he added "At least I don't think I'm gay."

Inara raised and eyebrow "Oh well OK that's cool."

Cloud pretended to be interested in his textbook then asked "How do you know if you are gay?"

"I dunno, I'm not gay. Ask Zack."

Cloud looked confused "But Zack's not gay."

"He's bisexual."

"Are you serious? You two have been together for like two years. Has he ever dated a guy?"

"Yes, he had a boyfriend before he came to SOLDIER."

Cloud choked on his soda and couldn't stop himself from blurting out "Did he have sex with him?"

Inara laughed "Well let's just say that I was not his first."

"WOW. Was he yours?" When Cloud asked this he noticed Inara tense up and a very dark look past over her face as she stood and walked toward the bedroom.

He barely heard her say "No." as she left the room.

Cloud was considering going back to see what he had done wrong when Zack came in the front door "Hey Spike, What's up?"

Cloud told Zack about his conversation with Inara even the bisexual part to which Cloud blushed and Zack smirked. When he told him about him asking Inara about her first Zack frowned.

"I see. Damn. OK be right back Spike." With that Zack walked down the hall to their bedroom and found Inara sitting on the bed with her legs hugged to her chest. He was relieved to see she was not crying.

Inara let out a long sign and looked at her boyfriend "I want to tell him."

"OK"

"I don't think I can though. I am afraid of what he will think of me."

Zack was mildly exasperated by this statement "Inara…"

"I know, I know. Not my fault. Blah blah blah. I just can't take that initial look of disgust. Even though a part of me knows it is disgust for that filthy rat bastard, I just can't help feeling dirty and awful." Her voice broke with the last part and Zack hugged her.

"Do you want me to tell him?" he offered.

"Would you?"

"Of course. I would do anything to save you pain, you know that, but if I tell him I am telling him everything."

"Seriously?"

"Yep, so if you he runs screaming and never comes back, you know why." This made Inara laugh.

She gave Zack a kiss and said "Well good luck. I will be here, hiding."

"Chicken." Zack was laughing as he headed out to probably scare the hell out of the poor blond cadet in the living room.

Cloud looked up as Zack walked in and sat down on the couch next to him "Is she mad at me?"

"Nah Spike, she's not mad. You just caught her off guard." Zack paused a second and continued "your opinion is really important to Inara and she has something she has been wanting to tell you, but was scared to."

Zack went into the kitchen and got a soda and came back "OK here goes. Inara's father was a turk and he was killed on a deep cover mission when Inara was only three. Her Mom started drinking a lot and couldn't pay the bills so she quickly remarried just to get out of handling finances. Her Mom died when Inara was ten and her stepfather started treating Inara like she was some kind of slave he made her do all of the cooking and cleaning. About six months after her Mom died he came into her room and carried her into his room and told her she was selfish and needed to take care of his needs as a man."

And there it was, that look of horror, shock, and disgust that Inara did not want to see. Zack quickly finished with "So the piece of shit continued to molest her until her fifteenth birthday when she ran away and joined SOLDIER."

Cloud was horrified. The thought of anyone hurting Inara like that made him sick to his stomach. He looked up at Zack who was patiently waiting for this all to sink in. Cloud locked eyes and unflinchingly asked "Did you kill him? I mean he is dead right?"

"No I didn't. After she finally got up the courage to tell me I went looking for him, but he had moved and I couldn't find the bastard."

Cloud got up and leaned against the breakfast bar still afraid he might lose his lunch. When he suddenly remembered what Zack said about Inara being afraid to tell him he squeaked out "Wait, did she actually think I would blame her for that or look down on her?"

"Well Spike like I said your opinion is really important to her. The fact that you are finding out at all is proof of that. There are only four people on this planet that know what he did to her. And three of them are in this apartment right now."

Zack let this sink in a bit then said "OK so now for my next revelation."

Cloud felt numb 'shit there's more I don't think I can take more.'

Zack was nervous now which irritated him because he does not get nervous. "So um your opinion is really important to her, because you are really important to her. You are important to us."

"…"

"We both care about you Spike."

"…"

"We both care about you a lot. Do you get what I am saying at all here?"

Cloud still looked bewildered so Zack threw up his hands and said "Fuck it." He rushed forward and placed his hands on either side of Cloud's face and moved in.

Zack crushed his lips against Cloud's soft perfect mouth. He felt Cloud's hands come up and grasp his forearms, but he didn't push Zack away.

Zack lingered for a second longer before slowly pulling back, watching Cloud's face as he did so. Cloud looked a little shocked, but not disgusted. Zack moved his hands to the blonde's waist and leaned back in.

Cloud slipped his arms around Zack's neck and sank into him as Zack's tongue darted out beseeching entry. Cloud parted his lips and almost whimpered at the tenderness of Zack's kiss. As the raven haired teen deepened the kiss he pressed against Cloud pinning him to the counter.

Cloud's head was spinning and he panicked a little when he felt the bulge in Zack's pants "Um Zack, uh I um, I've never…"

Zack chuckled as he pulled his weight off Cloud "Don't worry Spike it's just an automatic reaction. Inara and I just wanted you to know how we feel about you. We don't have to anything that you are not comfortable with."

Cloud visibly relaxed and wrapped his arms around Zack's waist and laid his head on his chest. Zack settled his chin in Cloud's soft hair.

"OK well now I just feel left out." Zack let out a sharp laugh as he looked up at Inara, he hadn't even heard her enter the room..

Upon hearing her voice Cloud turned around and hugged her tightly. She closed her eyes and hoped he loosened his grip soon he was squeezing so tight she could barely breathe. When he did and looked into her face, she saw no disgust or horror, just love and that look that Zack so often gave her that said 'No one will ever hurt you again.'

Cloud ran his hand to the back of her neck and leaned in to kiss her. It was Inara's turn to do the melting. And when Cloud leaned into her what she was pushed into was Zack who had moved behind her. Zack put her hands on her waist and watched as his boyfriend used his newfound kissing skills on his girlfriend. Zack was pretty sure if Leviathan himself struck him down right then he could go to the life stream a very happy man.


End file.
